


Missing Pet

by IldiDragonheart



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: A bearded collie to be exact, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dogs, Dougal is a dog, F/M, First Meetings, Lost Pet, Meet-Cute, Pets, because I see him as that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:01:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26231593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IldiDragonheart/pseuds/IldiDragonheart
Summary: There's something about that dog. It's that gray Bearded Collie that Tina met about three days ago.——In which Tina finds a lost (cute) dog and keeps him until they find/meet his (even cuter) owner.
Relationships: Tina Goldstein/Newt Scamander
Comments: 4
Kudos: 45





	Missing Pet

There's something about that dog.

It's that gray Bearded Collie that Tina met about three days ago. She found it sitting in an alleyway when she was on her way home from work. The poor thing looked so sad and hungry that Tina was moved to feed it half of her sandwich. It looked very adorable, too. It had long, shaggy gray hair with white patches here and there, and wide blue eyes that seemed to shimmer under the light of the lamppost near the alley.

The same day, Tina also discovered that the dog was a boy and had an owner since he had a blue collar with a small bone-shaped pendant. With the presence of the collar, Tina assumed that the dog had run away and got lost in the process.

 _Poor thing,_ Tina lamented. _Must be missing his owner now._

After feeding the Collie, Tina bid him goodbye and continued on her way home. What she didn't expect, however, was that the dog followed her all the way there.

"What the..?" Tina had gasped upon realizing that the dog followed her home.

The dog stared at her innocently, with his blue eyes boring into her brown ones. He tilted his head a bit to one side cutely and had his tongue out.

At first, Tina tried ignoring the dog and left it sitting on her front porch. But, after an hour, the dog stayed at the same spot Tina left him. It was then she tried shooing it away to no avail.

 _What am I to do with you?_ Tina sighed, staring at the Collie in front of her.

"Hmm..." Tina hummed. "Do you want some food?"

As if understanding her, the dog waged his tail and barked.

Tina giggled. "I'll take that as a yes, then."

Tina told the dog to stay where he was—which he did, meaning his owner trained him well—and left to fetch a small plate with leftover chicken from her dinner. She was almost toppled over by the dog when he saw the plate in her hand. It immediately jumped up and leaned his front paws against Tina.

"Woah, there!" Tina laughed, trying to pry an excited dog off her. "Wait, wait..."

When the dog finally calmed down, Tina was able to place the plate on the floor. She laughed as she watched him devour the leftover in a heartbeat. When it finished, Tina gave it an affectionate pat on the head and shooed it away.

"Alright, back to your owner now," she told him. "They must be worried sick."

The dog licked her cheek, yapped happily, and ran off to wherever it came from, leaving a smiling Tina at the front porch.

I hope he gets home safe, she thought before retreating back into her house.

Apparently, the dog didn't get home that night because, on the next day, Tina found him in the same alleyway she found him yesterday. She fed it half of her sandwich again and left. Upon reaching home, the dog had followed her.

At first, Tina found it strange, but soon adapted to it and that became her new after-work routine for the next few days.

On the eighth day, the day dog still hadn't gone home. Tina was beginning to worry about him and his owner. The dog must've been gone for about a week now.

Then, as she sat beside the dog on her porch, as the dog ate from the food bowl that she gave him (she went shopping for a bowl and dog food on the third day of him following her home), Tina made a decision.

"What do you say if I let you stay here for a while?" Tina suggested to the dog. The Collie stopped munching on his chicken to look at her.

Tina smiled softly and began stroking his shaggy gray coat. "You can stay with me for the time being, until we find your owner," she repeated. "Is that okay with you?"

The dog barked and leaped over to Tina, making her fall back against the wooden floor of her porch. Tina let out a laugh as she let the dog lick her face over and over.

"Okay, okay!" she chortled, trying to push him back. _That's a yes, then—an excited one, too._

The dog sat back and Tina sat up, wiping the dog saliva from her face. She gave the dog's chin a little rub before picking up the plate of chicken and opening the front door.

"Alright, get inside," Tina told the dog, holding the door open for him. With one last bark, the dog bounded into her humble abode, Tina laughing as she followed suit.

On his first night, Tina let him sleep on her living room rug. The next day, Tina went shopping for more dog food, a doggy bed big enough for the Collie, another bowl for water, a pin brush, a ball, and a leash—she read online once that Bearded Collies needed lots of exercises, so maybe walks during weekends and games with a ball would suffice.

Tina, apparently, also needed a new vacuum cleaner. That dog sheds like crazy!

Saturday came, four days after Tina decided to temporarily adopt D—that's what she had decided to call him. She can't refer to him as "the dog" all the time, can she? And, besides, that was what's on the bone pendant of his collar.

It was a clear morning, so Tina decided to take him out for a walk in the park.

Arriving downstairs with D's leash in hand, she whistled for him. The dog came bounding over to her and dipped into a play bow as soon as she showed hin the leash.

"Are you ready for a walk, buddy?" Tina cooed, patting his head affectionately. D barked in reply, his tail wagging rapidly.

Tina hooked the leash to his collar, grabbed her purse and house keys, and the duo left for the park.

At the park, D almost dragged Tina all over the place. The active dog chased after butterflies and ran around the grassy hills. Throughout all that, Tina just laughed and went along to wherever D would drag her to.

An hour later found Tina sitting on a bench, resting from an hour of being dragged by a hyperactive dog. D sat in front of her, his head placed atop her left knee. She was gently stroking his head when something flew into her chest.

Looking down, Tina saw a sheet of bond paper. Pulling it off her chest, Tina stared at it.

It was a poster, a missing pet poster. It contained a picture of a Bearded Collie that looked exactly like D. Below it read:

**HAVE YOU SEEN THIS DOG?**

**IF FOUND, PLEASE CONTACT 0224-9701-682**

_Huh_ , Tina thought, _the owner must be putting up posters_. Then, she looked around and saw similar ones posted on the lamppost nearby.

_He must be around here somewhere right now!_

Tina abruptly stood up, surprising the peaceful dog on her knee. She smiled apologetically at him before saying, "I think your owner's here, bud. Let's go look for him."

Tina followed a line of lamppost with the same posters on them until she came upon a man just three street lamps away from her, hanging up what seemed to be the same "missing pet" poster on another lamppost.

As she was staring at the man, D suddenly barked and ran off.

"D!" Tina yelled, running after the dog.

D seemed to be running towards the man hanging up posters. He barked again and, this time, caught the attention of the man. The man turned around and literally dropped all the posters and the stapler he was holding, dropped to his knees and hugged D as the dog ran into his arms.

"There you are!" the man cried as Tina approached them.

D barked and licked the man's face as the latter continued hugging him tightly. Tina smiled as she watched the scene before her unfold.

"Uhm...excuse me?" The little reunion ended when Tina spoke. Both the man and D looked at her. Tina met the man's eyes and almost immediately felt her face heat up.

 _He's...so cute_ , she thought (she didn't know if she was referring to D or the man).

D came over to her and nuzzled her right hand. Tina absently rubbed his head while she watched the man get to his feet.

He was just her height, maybe a little taller. He had copper hair, blue eyes, and freckles.

"Uh..." Tina cleared her throat. "Excuse me, mister, but...is he," she pointed to D, "your dog?"

The man nodded, his face red. "Y-yes..." he replied. "Thank you for finding him."

"No problem..." Tina said, smiling slowly.

Now, for some reason, Tina couldn't take her eyes off the man. Just like what she felt when she first saw D, there was something about him that made her feel drawn towards him.

A bark pulled Tina out of her reverie. She saw D happily barking at the man, who was on his knees, petting him.

"Don't run away like that again, Dougal!" he scolded. He had an accent. British.

"Dougal?" Tina asked, amused.

The man looked at her, smiling. "Y-yes...that's his name. Dougal."

Tina chuckled. "That's..." _an awfully weird name to give a dog_. "That's cute."

"I suppose so," the man mumbled, getting to his feet.

Silence came. It fell over them, neither party knowing what to say next. It was a few moments later when Tina remembered D's—no, Dougal's—leash that she still had with her.

"Oh, right," Tina muttered. She handed the man that leash. "Here. I, uh, bought it for him when I took him in."

He accepted the leash, taking it from her with a nod. "Thanks..." He bent down to hook the leash to Dougal's collar.

"So, uhm...what's...what's your name, miss?" the man asked after patting the dog.

"Oh! Uh...I'm Tina," Tina introduced. "Tina Goldstein."

"Tina..." the man whispered. He stared at her for a few seconds before holding out his hand. "Newt. Newt Scamander."

Tina shook his hand, feeling herself go red again. The pair let go of each other's hands and let them drop to their sides.

"I..." Newt began. He cleared his throat. "Thank you for finding him, Miss Goldstein."

Tina nodded. "You're welcome.."

Silence again. Then...

"Uhm...Miss Goldstein–?"

"Tina," she interrupted.

"P-pardon?" Newt stuttered, eyebrows raised.

"Call me Tina." She smiled at him.

Newt nodded. "Okay, then..." he cleared his throat and began again. "T-Tina...how would feel about having a cup of tea with me?"

 _What? A cup of...is he asking me out?_ "I...what?" Tina sputtered, surprised by the question.

"Y-you don't have to agree. I...it's alright if you don't want to...we just met and all, but.." Newt spluttered. He then took a deep breath before adding, "But I...I would be very grateful if you do. Consider it as my thanks for finding my dog..."

Tina blinked at Newt. She didn't say anything for a while. Did he just...ask her out?

She felt something nudge her hand. Glancing down, she saw Dougal seemingly pouting at her. Tina felt her heart melt.

A man she just met was asking her out. Tina bit her lip. _Ah, what the hell!_ She finally thought.

Looking into Newt's eyes, she said, "I'd like that." She let out a laugh afterwards. "Very much!"

**Author's Note:**

> Just wanted to say that the phone number I used here is just Eddie Redmayne's and Newt's birthdays put together :))


End file.
